Ministry of Education to build school in Cabarete lagoon

Acento.com.do reports that the Ministry of Education plans to build the new Cabarete high school in what is the buffer zone of a protected area in the northern province of Puerto Plata. The lot that the Ministry has chosen is currently flooded by lagoon waters, making it unsuitable for school construction.

Puerto Plata provincial environment director Carlos Finke told the Acento reporter that his department could not object to the construction because the lot is not inside the protected area. Finke said that his responsibility ended with establishing whether the lot was inside the park boundary. Otherwise, building the school was strictly a decision to be made by the Ministry of Education.

Others interviewed by Acento highlighted that the students could be affected by diseases, as the area was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The area’s vulnerability to flooding was also explained in the news report, which highlighted that building the school in the area would cost much more as the foundations would require special reinforcement.

The report quotes a source as saying that the Ministry would have paid US$60 per meter for the 274 meter-lot when in other areas of Cabarete land was going for US$20 per meter, for a total cost of more than US$400,000. The report says that this would be the most expensive school in the country.

The public school system director in Puerto Plata told the reporter that there were many other spaces that could have been used for the school. She said the Ministry is considering building the school somewhere else.